Warrior I

For any yogis who are interested, it is now time for Virbhadrasana I! (also known as Warrior I).
You can start at the back of your mat, and take a large step about 4 feet in front of you. In a vinyasa sequence this position is usually entered from a downward dog, but I’ll stick with my hatha trend.
In my pics I stepped forward with my right leg, so I will give all of my directions with that side. Turn your left (back) foot at a 45 degree angle, and bend your right knee so that it’s at a 90 degree angle (knee right over the ankle). Swing your arms up, shoulder length apart, and a gazing point high up is best.
I find the most difficult part is keeping your hips square, so continuously try to pull your left hip forward. If you are feeling comfortable you can spread your legs further away from eachother (making sure the heels are still lined up), or you can even go into a micro-backbend.
This pose, like many others, is helpful for circulation and respiration. Today we are also going to add a spinal twist for a strong and flexible back. You can follow these directions, and try to look like the bottom pic!
Bring your hands down into prayer, and on your exhale twist the top of your body to the right. You can then bring your left elbow to the right side of your right knee, and bring your gaze to the ceiling (past your right elbow). If this is comfortable you can bring your left arm to touch the ground (on the outside of your right foot) and raise the arm straight into the air.
Have fun with this one! On every inhale lengthen your body and feel your head move closer to the wall in front of you, and on your exhale continue to twist further. It feels sooo goood.

Love, Ami G

Eagle Pose!

Also known as Garudasana, this is one of my favorites! It’s good for the reproductive organs (I always giggle on the inside when they say that in class), improves concentration and balance, opens the hips and shoulders, and is therapeutic for asthma.

If you’re doing it right you feel like you’re in a very proud or prestigious position, making the name “Eagle Pose” quite suiting.

It’s a little complicated to tie yourself in this knot, so along with the pics I’ll provide some step-by-step instructions for standing on your left foot. Obviously, you should do the opposite moves when on your right.

1) Make sure your left foot has the toes spread out so you’re planted firmly on the earth, and bend your knees as if you are going into chair pose. Lift the right leg high (the higher you get, the further you will get into this pose) and cross it over your bent left leg. Your eventual goal is to wrap it around the back of your left leg so that your foot comes onto the right side of it (like in the photos).

2) Lift your left arm to a 90 degree angle, and swing your right arm underneath it. Then bring your right hand closer to your face, and around the left hand, bringing the palms to better. Many people who struggle with eagle arms hold a short rope or piece of fabric to give the same effect if their palms don’t meet.

Some people tend to hunch forward, but make sure to focus on keeping your back straight and tall, your hips squared, and your belly-button sucked into your spine. On your exhales you can bend your left leg deeper which will bring you further into this position.

Hope you like this as much as I do, it feels excellent to succeed in balancing and holding this pose!

Love, Ami G

Standing Forward Bend

Also known as Uttanasana. This pose is rather simple, and stimulates the digestive system, as does any forward bend.
Start with your feet together, and as you breath in stand up as straight and tall as you can with your hands on your hips. As you exhale, start to bend forward at the hips. Every time you feel some strain on your body, inhale and lift up a little, and then exhale and go down further, finally bringing your hands to the floor. Eventually you should be gazing behind you. Try to keep your upper body as relaxed as you can- nod and shake your head to make sure it’s nice and loose.
After a couple breaths here, inhale and straighten your back. Try to keep your hands where they are, or against your shins to help, and keep your gaze at the floor. This should lengthen your back, so that on your next exhale you will be able to bend into Uttanasana even deeper. Next we’ll get to start some balancing poses!

Love, Ami G

Half-Moon Pose

Post of the week is half moon pose! AKA Ardha Chandrasana. I apologize in advance for the pictures, I had just done a hot yoga class and I am drennnnched haha. So, the traditional way to do this pose it a little different, but the hatha series that I do takes a couple inspirations from Bikram yoga, so that is the form of half-moon that I do.

This is commonly the next pose in the series, and starts with your feet together. As you inhale, bring your arms up, clasping your hands overhead with the pointer fingers towards the ceiling.

With every inhale you want to make yourself a little longer (taller), and with every exhale you want to bend a little bit deeper. Start by leaning to the left, and looking towards the ceiling. Go deeper and deeper for eight breaths. Do the same on the right.

Last , we do it backwards. Try to push your hips and thighs forward, and heart towards the ceiling, or eventually the back wall. Make sure to keep an imaginary orange under your chin so that your don’t strain your neck and look too far back. If your breathing becomes difficult, you’ve gone too far into this position.

One day I wanna look like this chick! Except she’s not looking at the ceiling as she bends to the side, so she's not getting the full benefits of this pose. Also, she's not keeping that imaginary orange under her chin as she leans back, so this could be dangerous for her back. She is clearly doing Bikram yoga because his style tends to push the body to extreme limits such as this, even when it's not ready. This is the most common criticism of Bikram yoga.

“The moon has a rich symbolic significance in yoga mythology. In hatha yoga, for example, the sun and the moon represent the two polar energies of the human body. In fact, the word hatha itself is often divided into its two constituent syllables, "ha" and "tha", which are then esoterically interpreted as signifying the solar and lunar energies respectively.” – Quoted from yogajournal.com

Love, Ami G

Chair Pose

Pose of the week today is utkatasana (better know as chair pose!) This is quite often the first thing we do in our hatha series (after a breathing exercise ofcourse). It’s not too difficult, but it works wonders for digestion and such.

You start off by acting as if you’re going to sit in a chair, keeping your spine straight and tall, and arms in the air (palms facing eachother). With every breath that you let out, try to go a little bit lower.
After a few comfortable breaths, slowly extend until your legs are straight, you are on your tippy toes, and reaching as high as you can. Really stretch yourself and maximize your length!
After a few more slow, steady breaths, you go back into chair position, but stay on your tip-toes. Keep your arms out in front again, and shoulders relaxed. It should look similar to the pic I posted.

Happy Yoga-ing!

Love, Ami G

Hot Yoga

Can you guess the hobby I picked up for the summer?? Yup → Hot Yoga! And I love love love it! It’s super tough but you feel soooo good after. The heat helps to burn more calories, stretch further, detoxify the body and prevent injury. I really want to learn to do a hatha series on my own, so once a week on my blog I’m going to post a yoga position of the week!

So I’ll start off with the simplest one: Savasana (also known as corpse pose).


Simply lie down on your mat, arms by your side with your palms facing up, and relaxxx. Allow every part of yourself to melt from the tip of your toes to your mind. Can you believe that’s a pose?! I always do this at the start and end of class and it feels sooo good at the end. You detach yourself from all thoughts and just breathe. This is hugely beneficial for stress and anxiety, and the rest after such an intense workout is also very healthy physically.

Happy yoga-ing ☺

Love, Ami